1. www.set4food.org
SET4food abstract
The project: Sustainable energy technologies for food utilization (SET4food)
Duration of the action: 19 months, from 01/06/2014 to 31/12/2015
Funding: The project is financed by the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection
Summary: Natural disasters, population growth, social conflicts, political or structural crises determine
forced population movements, both within the very same country or towards neighbouring ones. In this
framework, insufficient food availability, malnutrition and poor health conditions increase mortality rates and
create a status of protracted crisis. Humanitarian aid deals, above all, with food security; hence, the
availability of reliable and sustainable energy technologies is mandatory to give access to basic services,
such as coking and food preservation, in an effective and efficient way. To achieve this goal, the selection
of appropriate energy technologies is indeed pivotal. NGOs' staff operating in emergencies often make
decisions under pressure, without a background and adequate competences on energy issues; as a
consequence, the selected strategies do not always comply with the requirement of sustainability and
exploit the most effective energy technologies available at international and/or local level.
Problems, needs and risks analysis: according to UNHCR, at the end of 2014 the number of displaced
people almost reached 60 million (59.5 million), the highest number on records. Regarding the poor living
conditions suffered by refugees and IDPs in temporary / quasi permanent / permanent camps or informal
settlements, a relevant concern is represented by the insufficient food security level. Food security is built
on four main pillars: 1. the physical availability of food, 2. the economical and physical access to food, 3.
the utilization of food and the related resources, 4. the stability of food supply over time.
In case of food insecurity, the attention is usually focused on food availability and access rather than on
food utilization. Moreover food preparation, cooking and preservation methods used in camps or informal
settlements are, in the vast majority of cases, inefficient and polluting. Indeed 1) cooking requires a great
quantity of fuels (mainly wood) and it is a cause of deforestation; 2) cooking takes a long time; 3) people
tend to cook few times, stocking the exceeding food up; and 4) due to poor storage conditions, food looses
nutritive properties and / or causes health problems.
Furthermore, the lack of sufficient and sustainable energy for food utilization has a negative impact on
other key humanitarian challenges. Finally, in the last 10 years some pilot projects on how to implement
innovative energy technologies have been carried out nonetheless, lessons learnt have not been
appropriately capitalized and, therefore, humanitarian actors do not have sufficient technical tools or
guidelines through which assess the peculiar conditions of camps or informal settlements where they work
and identify / deliver efficient energy technologies for food utilization.
Response: the project is focused on the nexus linking food utilization to energy availability, efficiency and
sustainability in temporary / quasi permanent / permanent camps or informal settlements. Specifically, the
action will facilitate the transfer of technical knowledge on specific energy technologies. Technologies are
analyzed through a literature review and a SWOT analysis. A decision support system (DSS) and
Technologies Guidelines for operators are developed. Innovative technologies and solutions are tested
through 4 pilot projects (Central African Republic, Haiti, Lebanon, and Somalia). Finally awareness and
capacity of NGOs, both HQs and field staff, academia, local and international bodies and other
stakeholders will be consolidated via e-learning / in-presence training courses and public events.